CHICAGO — Nearly all (97%) of consumers who purchase food from convenience stores usually eat it at one of the following places: inside their car while driving, inside their parked car, at someone’s home, inside the c-store or at work, according to Consumer Brand Metrics (CBM), a brand tracking program from CSP’s sister research firm, Technomic.
But where do consumers eat c-store food at the most? While this differs depending on which chain consumers are buying from, some places outpace others by a wide margin.
Here’s where consumers eat their c-store food …
Nearly two-fifths (36%) of consumers overall said they eat c-store food while driving in their car—the highest of any location, according to Technomic. Customers ordering from Gate Petroleum (50%), Murphy Express (49%) and Holiday Stationstores (48%) consume their food while driving in their cars the most, while those purchasing from 7-Eleven (18%), Royal Farms (19%) and Family Express (21%) do so the least.
More than a fifth (21%) of consumers overall said they eat c-store food while parked in their car, according to Technomic. Customers ordering from The Spinx Co. (30%), GetGo (29%) and MAPCO Express (29%) eat c-store food this way the most, while those purchasing from Yesway (6%), Huck’s (10%) and Gate Petroleum (10%) do so the least.
Twenty-one percent of consumers overall said they eat c-store food either at home or at someone else’s home, according to Technomic. Consumers ordering from Royal Farms (44%), Casey’s General Stores and Wawa (38%) eat c-store food this way the most, while those buying from Jacksons Food Stores (8%), Pilot Co. (10%) and On the Run (10%) do so the least.
Just 13% of customers said they eat c-store food inside the store, according to Technomic. While chains such as Maverik and RaceTrac have added in-store seating to boost this percentage, the industry overall is still struggling to keep patrons inside the store to eat. Consumers ordering from TravelCenters of America (33%), Family Express (31%) and Parker’s (28%) eat inside the c-store most often, while those purchasing from QuikTrip (2%), Kwik Trip (5%) and ampm stores (5%) do so the least.
Only 6% of consumers overall said they eat c-store food at work, according to Technomic. Customers ordering from QuickChek (11%), QuikTrip (11%) and On the Run (10%) eat c-store food at work the most, while those buying from Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores (1%), Sunoco (3%) and Fas Mart (3%) do so the least.
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